freeamfva's blog
Furniture On Demand by Lectra
Artificial intelligence (AI), the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), cloud computing and big data are key Industry 4.0 technologies that Lectra has integrated in its solutions since 2015. This is particularly the case with Furniture On Demand by Lectra, which helps furniture manufacturers industrialize and optimize their production, both for small series and personalized orders, thanks to on demand (Made to Order) and customized (Made to Customize) production processes.To get more news about Home furniture manufacturer, you can visit beour.com official website.
In practice, Furniture On Demand by Lectra captures automatically the styles, materials and components information of the product, directly from the customer's order. This data is then transformed into a cutting order, transmitted to the cutting room, and monitored in real time during the entire process. The one-click cutting solution speeds up production while minimizing the risk of error.
COVID-19 disrupted the lifestyles of people across the globe, encouraging them to spend more time at home. At the height of the pandemic, 78% of consumers worldwide decided that home was their haven and two out of five made changes to their homes in 20201.
With reduced spending on travel, dining and leisure, consumer purchasing is shifting to home décor and design. The immediacy of the need increased during the pandemic, as retailers saw the emergence of compulsive buying behavior, both on the high street and online.
A trend that is benefiting the upholstered furniture market. , which had already been growing steadily over the past decade. This trend that existed before the pandemic should strengthen.
In the office furniture market, manufacturers must now meet the expectations of new customers who work from home. They must adapt their B2B model to a B2C approach and totally rethink their offer, pricing strategy and distribution network accordingly.Consumers increasingly want to participate in the design of their own furniture. In the United Kingdom3, nearly one in two buyers shows a keen interest in custom-made furniture, while nine out of ten American consumers4 are willing to pay up to an additional $300 for a personalized sofa. In China, this market segment5 is even expected to grow by 18%.
This trend is driven by Millennials, those born between 1980 and 2000, who want to buy furniture that reflects their personality and customize it themselves. They see furniture as a way to reflect a certain lifestyle within a given moment and no longer consider it a long-term investment. The average lifespan of a sofa, for example, has been halved since the 1980s and 2000s2. Millennials are even prepared to pay more for their furniture as long as they don't have to wait for delivery. This is a side effect of buying online.Furniture on Demand by Lectra is a solution designed specifically to meet the needs of furniture manufacturers, regardless of their geographic location and business model. As evidenced by the many companies that have already adopted it and are improving the efficiency of their day-to-day operations:
Customers are paying and waiting more as the furniture industry deals with supply chain issues
Furniture stores and interior designers are feeling the impact of supply chain issues that all industries are facing right now.To get more news about Home furniture manufacturer, you can visit beour.com official website.
As people move to new homes or upgrade furniture, most will have to wait a few weeks, or even months for that new couch
“For the past 10 months this industry has been our industry has been on a wild goose chase. It’s almost a roller coaster effect,” said Sharon Garfield, owner of Tradition Interiors and Accessories.
Furniture stores have been shut down because of the pandemic, seen spikes in-demand business, and now increased prices and delivery delays.“We used to tell our customers if they ordered a sofa, you should expect the sofa in six to eight weeks, unfortunately, now we have to say six to eight months, so that’s affected us,” Garfield said.
Tradition Interiors and Accessories said the upholstery industry here in North Carolina is taking a hit when it comes to supply chain issues, and that’s delaying things as well.
Key hubs like Hickory and High Point are dealing with getting the needed material to make the items, and in many cases don’t have enough employees to fulfill all the orders.
It does not just store seeing supply chain issues. Interior designers are feeling the impact too because delayed furniture means delayed payment.“We have to finish the job to be completely paid for the job, so you really want to offer things to people in a timely matter, get the projects completed so that you can move on to the next job as any business would do,” said Wil Smith, the owner and lead designer of Interior Motives.
Those delays often come with frustration from the customer, but both businesses are finding a way by with the help of their show floor.
Store owners say one good way for customers to get a good great deal and not have to wait - is to ask about showroom floor items.
“The beautiful thing about us is we have our showroom here, so we can pull items from the showroom, so we can alleviate those lead times, but if we didn’t have this, we would just be at the mercy of the supply chain,” said Smith.Garfield tells WBTV that suppliers have added on surcharges for products because of the higher cost of materials and the supply chain issues, and that is why customers are seeing a 15 percent increase in the price of furniture.
Locally made cold press is gold standard for juicers
dale Wettlaufer was a rocket scientist, which made him perfectly suited for a job building military defense equipment. But the aerospace engineer was uneasy about contributing to the war industry and wanted to devote his talents to something more positive.To get more news about Industrial Juice Extractor, you can visit hl-juicer.com official website.
So, in 1976, he walked away from his stable, well-paying career and retreated to his home in the woods of East Aurora. Soon after, a neighboring farmer asked him to build a juice press he could use to make apple cider for his roadside stand.
Today, that juice press is the gold standard in commercial cold-pressed juicing equipment – the minimal juice processing method behind a more than $350 million retail market and the fastest growing trend in the beverage industry.
Wettlaufer’s company, Goodnature, has gone from selling the occasional press out of his barn, to becoming the largest industrial cold press maker in the nation filling multiple orders for powerhouse companies around the world – companies such as Whole Foods, BluePrint Cleanse and Starbucks subsidiary Evolution Fresh. It has opened a total of four new facilities – including a distribution center in Australia to ship the Buffalo-made machines to customers in the Eastern hemisphere. It is also about to add a 10,000-square-foot addition to its Bud-Mil Drive site on Buffalo’s East Side. In 2013, it launched a sister company, Pomeroy Equipment, that focuses solely on nurturing and training startup cold-pressed juice companies around the world.
People always said if you build a better mousetrap, they’ll beat a path to your door,” Wettlaufer said. “No one said it would take 40 years.”
All three of Dale’s children are part owners and help run the business. Son Eric is Goodnature’s vice president. Son Charlie is CEO of Las Vegas-based Pomeroy. Daughter Paige Drake is the company’s director of public engagement.
Paige calls her family’s rise to success an “accidental David and Goliath” story. Her dad always cared more about quality than success, she said, so when consumers and the juice industry made quality paramount, his inventions were right there waiting.The Goodnature design is patterned after the rack and cloth press, an ancient method used to make extra virgin olive oil. With that labor-intensive and time-consuming process, shredded olives are folded into cloth pouches, stacked on wooden racks, then pressed together to release their oil. Goodnature’s models work in a similar way. The fruit, vegetables or nuts are fed into a tube, where a blade slices them into a salsa-like “pomace.” The pomace is fed into open-top mesh bags, which the machine presses together to release the juice. The juice fills a receptacle beneath the bags, where it’s poured into bottles or glasses.
THE 9 BEST JUICERS TO LEVEL UP YOUR HOME WELLNESS ROUTINE
Juicing at home is a great way to kickstart your health and wellness goals. If you're serious about juicing (or are just tired of spending loads of money on the bottled stuff), a cold press juicer is a kitchen appliance that's well worth the investment.To get more news about Crushing juicer, you can visit hl-juicer.com official website.
Chock-full of essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, fresh fruit-and-veggie juice is a game changer for your health. By this point, you're probably well aware of how buzzy juicing is in the wellness world. From the celery juice craze to influencers swearing by the latest liquid diet, juicing always seems to be trending.
When buying a juicer, it's essential to understand the difference between a cold press juicer and a centrifugal juicer. Cold press juicers, also known as masticating juicers, grind fruits and veggies without the use of added heat — hence “cold press.” This process involves the produce being slowly crushed, strained, then separated from the pulp, and results in better preservation of the vitamins and nutrients that naturally exist in fresh produce. And since cold press juicers operate slower, they're also quieter.
With cold press or masticating juicers, speed, quality of extraction, and motor power are chief things to look out for. Traditional (or centrifugal) juicers add heat during the extraction process, which reduces the time it takes for juicing, but it can also cut down the nutritional value of your fresh juice.
Naturally, the quality of juice yield you can extract should be a top priority. Cold press juicers normally produce a higher, denser yield so you’re already on the right track, but do check the dryness of the pulp, as wet pulp can indicate that the juicer isn’t as effective in extracting the most from your produce.
Some produce requires more power to cut through (think: carrots, beets, fennel, turnips, etc.), so a juicer with a strong motor, at least 1.1 horsepower (Hp) or higher, is best. When shopping for the best juicer for your needs, keep your eye out for terms like “vertical,” which help indicate a smaller footprint (or how much space it takes up on your counter). Overall, a simple machine that’s also easy to clean, and, of course, unobtrusively display on your kitchen counter will ensure optimum use.
In our selection process, we consulted expert reviews from our friends at Good Housekeeping, and we also dug into hundreds of actual consumer reviews from retailers including Amazon and Williams-Sonoma. We included the best juicers so you can kick-start your morning in the healthiest way possible.If you're on the hunt for a petite cold press juicer that's better for single servings or smaller portions, this personal Hurom HP Slow Juicer is the model you want.
A low-speed auger squeezes every drop out of fruits and veggies so that your juice is super smooth and pulp-free. A low-speed, 150-watt motor keeps things quiet during use and also uses very minimal heat during juicing.
Plus: Can we talk about how perfect its mint-green hue is? This little guy will look great even at rest on your kitchen countertop.Clocking in at a very reasonable price (less than $100), this cold press juicer from Aicok is super efficient. Since it's a slow-masticating juicer, the auger on this unit's motor spins at 80 RPM (revolutions per minute) to preserve the vitamins, enzymes, minerals, and nutrients naturally found in fresh fruits and veggies.
The motor on this juicer also runs quietly at 60 decibels, making it a great pick for small households where kitchen noise carries.
Whether you're juicing celery, wheatgrass, apples, or ginger, this slow-masticating cold press juicer will extract delicious, pulp-free, nutrient-dense juice with every use. Each separate part is also dishwasher-friendly for quick cleanup.
Washington State juice maker shut down by federal judge for toxins
At the FDA’s request, a federal court in Washington State has shutdown a 51-year-old juice maker who was annually supplying 2.9 million apple juice servings to USDA’s national school lunch program.To get more news about Lemon peeling and seedless juicer, you can visit hl-juicer.com official website.
FDA found juice products at Valley Processing at 108 Blaine Ave in Sunnyside, WA, with inorganic arsenic and patulin, both toxins that pose a health risk to consumers.
Judge Stanley A Bastian on Jan. 14 approved a Consent Decree for Permanent Injunction against Valley Processing, closing the company that employed 71 people in Washington’s Yakima Valley.
Three manufacturing plants, an ambient or “Mojo” warehouse, a cold room, and three coolers are included in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington Decree. All the facilities are located in Sunnyside.
Mary Ann Bliesner, owner and president of Valley Processing, is also named as a defendant. The decree applies to all directors, partnerships, corporations, subsidiaries, and affiliates, who all must adhere to it.
“Defendants represent to the court that, with the exception of holding and shipping products for destruction pursuant . . . at the time of the entry of this Decree, they are not in processing, manufacturing, preparing, packing, holding or distributing any type of food,” according to the decree.
If Valley Processing wants to resume “processing, manufacturing, preparing, packing, holding, or distributing food” they first must give 90 days of advance notice to FDA.
The juice company will also be required to hire an expert or experts with no personal or financial ties — other than a consulting agreement — with the company. The expert or experts must, by qualified reason of background, education, training, and experience help to implement sanitation control programs in a manufacturing environment.
Other areas of expertise required include pest control, employee health, and hygiene.
The decree orders the defendants to stop distributing adulterated juice products until the company complies with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and other requirements listed in the consent decree. In a complaint filed on behalf of the FDA on Nov. 6, 2020, the agency stated that Valley Processing, Inc.’s juice products contained inorganic arsenic and patulin toxins at levels that can pose health risks to consumers.
FDA investigators observed that the defendants processed juice under grossly insanitary conditions and failed to adhere to relevant food safety standards. This included storing grape juice concentrate contaminated with filth and mold in off-site storage tanks and covered barrels outside for several years. Despite the contamination, the defendants combined this juice concentrate with newer lots and distributed the mixture to consumers. This included the distribution of juice for use in school lunch programs. The complaint states that the defendants promised to discontinue using the contaminated juice, but a subsequent inspection by the FDA in 2019 showed the defendants continued to blend the older juice with newer juice for distribution.
“Food processors who do not comply with FDA regulations can put consumers’ health and well-being in danger. With this consent decree, we’re taking action to protect Americans, including children in this case, from consuming foods that have been processed in violation of the law,” said Judy McMeekin, Pharm.D., FDA’s Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs. “The FDA is fully committed to taking appropriate measures against those who disregard food safety standards and distribute adulterated food to the public.”
Best juicer deals for February 2022
Do you want to eat healthier? Save money while eating healthy with these cheap juicer deals. A surge of nutrients and vitamins flowing through your veins would surely make you feel more alive. If you’re not a fan of chewing or eating fruits, and veggies, you can give juicing a whirl. One drink not only serves to boost your immunity but also increases your metabolic rate. You’ll detoxify your body, reduce the risk of cancer, and lose the extra pounds in the process. Instead of depending on your local grocer’s stock of boxed up juices, you can extract juices from more varieties of fruits and veggies with your very own juicer. This way you’re sure that ingredients are all-natural compared to store-bought brands that infuse artificial sugars and flavors. You’ll even save a ton of money and reduce food waste! You can reuse the pulp, for instance, incorporating more fiber in soup, muffins, or jam. To save you some time we put together this resource of all the best juicer deals. We looked at all major retailers, to find the best of the best. We’ve also rounded up all the best blender deals.To get more news about High Quality Industrial Juice Extractor, you can visit hl-juicer.com official website.
There are many types of juicers and price is not the only determinant of how good one is. Its about getting the juicer that would keep up with your juicing needs. For instance, those who would rather drink their fruits and vegetables than sit down and actually eat them, a juicer that is capable of extracting the most nutrients is the one to get.
Centrifugal juicers are the fastest, most conventional, and often the least expensive option you’ll find, wherein fruits and veggies are broken down with rapid-spinning metal blades. Centrifugal force is then applied to extract its juice into a container while the grated bottom keeps its pulp separate. This kind of juicer is recommended for solid ingredients like apples and carrots as it may falter with herbs or leafy greens. Since its blades generate heat in the process, it is best to consume juice right away before oxidation occurs.
Unlike centrifugal juicers, slow-masticating cold press juicers are obviously not known for its speed but it does step up with a higher yield for the same amount of produce. It mimics the process of chewing food which makes it more capable of juicing fibrous greens. A mesh screen likewise prevents its skin from getting mixed in and since it runs slower, less oxidation takes place. The juice is more likely to remain fresh with all the vital enzymes intact for as long as 48 hours.
Nutrient-rich juices are well on the way with triturating juicers. Two interlocking roller gears crush and grind all sorts of food into tiny particles which are then pressed against a mesh sieve. Not only do you get more juice, but it also releases even more enzymes, vitamins, and soluble fibers — that is if you’re willing to stretch your patience as much as your budget. You’ll have more than enough juice for one sitting and preserving its quality up to 72 hours is possible when chilled and stored in an airtight container.
If you’re willing to spend over $1,000 for a juicer and counter space is no issue, a hydraulic press juicer is the slowest of the bunch but delivers the highest yield and quality of juice with little to no oxidation taking place. Since the upfront and running cost entails quite a heft, these are commonly used commercially or at health centers and are typically sourced from online direct sellers.
After considering the type of juicer and your budget, you’ll be able to evaluate your options based on the quality and quantity of juice you’d expect to have from the particular kind of fruit or vegetable you plan on juicing. Regardless of what you choose, other factors worth looking into are ease of use, cleanup, and storage, as well as speed and noise.
The point of having a juicer is to be healthier and not to add a potential stressor, so it’s important to get a model you’re comfortable with. However, those who want a multifunctional juicer that can churn out nut butters, sorbets, or baby food may deem the extra steps for setup and assembly worth it.
Mesh filters allow you to drink your juice pulp-free but you’ll undoubtedly have to deal with disposing of it as you clean your juicer. There are juicers that collect pulp in an internal basket while others eliminate it externally. Chances are you’d want the latter so you can keep juicing without having to pause and clean. You also wouldn’t want to miss out on a juicer that comes with cleaning brushes and dishwasher safe parts.
Juicers come in all shapes and sizes so you’ll want to keep storage and cord length in mind. Besides going for a timeless design, you’d want to make sure that you’ll have enough room to work with and a place to stow it in.
Multiple speeds will allow you to enjoy a variety of drink styles and textures. With more controls, it would be just as easy to switch from soft, hard, and leafy produce. You’ll also have more flexibility with the time it takes to juice. As for its motor, faster models tend to be noisier so if you’re thinking of juicing as a morning ritual, slow-masticating juicers are quieter than centrifugal ones. Though pricier, you’ll at least be able to get your juice on without your housemates waking up on the wrong side of the bed.
U.S. Lawmakers Urge Olympic Committee to Move 2022 Winter Games from Beijing
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers this week called on the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Olympics from Beijing, ramping up American political pressure on the forthcoming Winter Games.To get more news about beijing 2022 winter games, you can visit shine news official website.
Human rights advocates, activists and politicians from across the world have increasingly criticized the IOC for holding the games in China amid reports of human rights violations — including the detention and torture of the Uyghurs, an ethnic minority group, and anti-democracy crackdowns in Hong Kong.
"In the face of genocide, Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China are looking to the world for support," Rep. Gregory Meeks said in a statement Monday, after Democrats and Republicans from the congressional House Foreign Affairs Committee introduced a resolution urging the IOC to move the games "unless the Chinese government ends its ongoing crimes against the Uyghur people."
In February, the BBC reported that independent estimates show more than 1 million men and women — mostly of the predominantly Muslim and indigenous Uyghurs population — are being held in Chinese "re-education" camps, where harrowing stories of rape and violence have emerged.
"By turning a blind eye to the [People's Republic of China's] gross human rights violations in Xinjiang, the IOC is betraying its own charter and legitimizing the PRC's actions at a time when the international community should be lock-step in condemnation," Meeks, 69, said.
GOP Rep. Michael McCaul called the dilemma "the moral test of our time.""By granting the CCP an opportunity to cover up its atrocities and improve its image on the global stage, the IOC is violating its own principles and tarnishing its own brand," McCaul, 59, said.
The IOC has said it wishes to remain politically "neutral," and the Chinese government denies accusations that it is committing human rights violations, according to an Associated Press report.The Winter Games are set to open on Feb. 4, 2022, while governments around the world have debated a range of responses such as full-scale or diplomatic boycotts, in which athletes would still compete but heads of state wouldn't attend.
In March, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that "China uses coercion and aggression to systematically erode autonomy in Hong Kong, undercut democracy in Taiwan, abuse human rights in Xinjiang and Tibet, and assert maritime claims in the South China Sea that violate international law."
Blinkin, 59, said the U.S. "will push back if necessary when China uses coercion or aggression to get its way."However, the White House has remained relatively neutral on calls for a boycott.
Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in April that President Joe Biden's administration is "not discussing any joint boycott with allies and partners."But leaders from both the Republican and Democratic parties have pushed forward with calls to diplomatically boycott the 2022 Games without restricting athletes from participating.
"We're not gonna punish our athletes who've prepared all their lives for this moment," Sen. Mitt Romney said late last month, according to Newsweek. "But we're going to make sure we make it very clear we do not support the Beijing Olympics."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that the U.S. "cannot proceed as if nothing is wrong about the Olympics going to China," according to CNBC.
"If we don't speak out against human rights violations in China for commercial reasons, we lose all moral authority to speak out for human rights anywhere," she said.
2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Beijing Olympics are here, and they come just months after the Summer Games took place in August after being delayed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the United States is geared up and ready to compete in the Winter Olympics as they hope to once again come out of the event atop the medal count.To get more news about 2022 winter olympics, you can visit shine news official website.
Do not fret at being less than prepared for these Games. CBS Sports is here to track the entire event from the Opening Ceremony to the Closing Ceremony on Feb. 20. In this space, you can find everything you need to know about Team USA's performances, from Shaun White trying to end his Olympics career with a gold medal to the women's hockey squad vying for their second consecutive first-place finish.
These key links will get you started in your journey, while the live updates below will chronicle every bit of important news plus the major events and medal opportunities that Team USA achieves over the course of the two-week Games.
United States skier Mikaela Shiffrin came into the slalom portion of the Alpine combined race in fifth place. The 26-year-old star then failed to finish the event after she crashed about 10 gates into her run.
After failing to finish in the top three of that event, Shiffrin will leave the Beijing Olympics without an individual medal.
"Oh, man, I don't know if anybody has failed that hard with so many opportunities maybe in the history of the Olympics," Shiffrin told NBC following the race. "But I'll take it. I mean, it is a joke. That's fine. I just really selfishly wanted to have a good run of slalom down this hill, and I'll be left wanting there."
Shiffrin will have one final chance to earn an Olympic medal on Saturday when she competes in the mixed team parallel slalom competition. In addition, she will become just the second woman in Olympic history to compete in all six Alpine events.The United States men's hockey team suffered a shocking 3-2 shootout loss to Slovakia in the quarterfinals of the Olympics. The Americans went 0-for-5 in the shootout and Slovakia winger Peter Cehlarik recorded the game-winning goal on the team's fourth attempt.
With the loss, Team USA is done at these Olympics and will not medal.
The United States led Slovakia 2-1 with under a minute to go in regulation before Slovakia tied the game. American goaltender Strauss Mann was terrific in net as he recorded 34 saves and stopped four of the five Slovakian attempts in the shootout.
Team USA began the third period with a 2-1 lead after Nick Abruzzese and Sam Hentges had scored earlier in the game. The United States had a chance to get an insurance goal when they had a 5-on-3 power-play in the third period, but failed to cash in on the opportunity.
This marks the third consecutive Olympics in which Team USA has failed to earn a medal. Their last medal came in Vancouver in 2010 when the Americans earned a silver medal.
Walmart and Gap Deepen Relationship With Launch of New Furniture Collection
At Walmart, we have spent the past several years focused on building our home assortment to bring high-quality, stylish – and often exclusive – home goods and décor to customers at an incredible value.To get more news about wholesale furniture, you can visit oppao.com official website.
In June, we launched our latest exclusive home line with Gap Home, which also marked the first time Walmart has partnered with a fashion brand on a home collection. Over the past six months, we have received fantastic feedback from customers on our Gap Home décor, tabletop, bedding and bath options, all of which offer timeless American style for modern living. as well as by bringing the Gap Home brand to Walmart store shoppers for the first time with the introduction of a capsule collection of bedding styles at select Walmart stores.
Gap Home Furniture, which will be priced from $49.88 – $629, will consist of more than 150 furniture items, including couches, ottomans, TV stands, headboards, rugs and more. The line will roll out to customers in the coming weeks and will offer contemporary styles with Scandinavian, midcentury and even modern nods – the perfect complement to our other exclusive and elevated furniture offerings, which include FLOWER Home (bohemian) and MoDRN (contemporary).
Starting this month, we are also introducing new fall styles in bedding, curtains, pillows and more, including the assortment of bedding styles that will be available in select Walmart stores, such as the Washed Frayed Edge Organic Cotton Quilt in blue and white ($59.98 – $64.98) and the T-shirt Soft Jersey Reversible Organic Cotton Blend Comforter Set in navy and blue ($59.98 – $69.98).
Our customers have been spending more time in – and investing more in – their homes. This nesting trend is one we anticipate continuing, and we are committed to offering Walmart shoppers a wide variety of accessible, on-trend styles so that a beautiful home is possible for everyone. Gap Home is a key part of this effort, and there is so much more to come.
Thinking of buying a new couch? The price may have just quadrupled
With more than 40 years of experience, Love Dodd of Victoria thought he had seen everything the furniture business could throw at him.To get more news about wholesale furniture, you can visit oppao.com official website.
But even he almost jumped out of his chair when he saw the size of new tariffs that were slapped on a lot of his merchandise earlier this month.
"We personally got hit with a couple of hundred thousand dollars," he said in an interview. "That's been a huge blow for us."
On May 5, the federal government imposed tariffs of up to 295 per cent on imported upholstered furniture from Vietnam and China. With three furniture stores across Vancouver Island, Dodd says the impact on his business, which employs roughly 80 people, was almost immediate.He recalls a customer who came into one of his stores recently and tested out a recliner that was priced at $698. "If they come to my store today, it's going to be $2,598," he said. "It's not affordable."
Ottawa imposed tariffs after a half dozen Canadian furniture producers complained that products from Vietnam and China were being dumped into Canada at prices that were wildly uncompetitive.
Winnipeg-based Palliser Furniture is the company that got the process started. While it declined an interview request, the manufacturer's letters to government officials lay out its reasoning. According to government data, roughly $475 million worth of upholstered sofas and chairs subject to the new tariffs get imported into Canada every year, the majority of which come from China.
Palliser says less than 20 years ago, Canadian manufacturers produced well over half of those items sold in Canada. Today, it's barely one-sixth.According to Palliser, the flood of cheap products, primarily from China, is hurting Canadian companies. "There has been a significant loss of jobs across Canada as a result of the unfair competition from China in particular," one of the company's submissions to the Canada Border Services Agency says.
Exporting items at prices below what they would sell for domestically is known as dumping, and it's a contentious issue in international trade law.
Unpopular though they may be with consumers, tariffs are one of the bluntest instruments available to governments seeking to level the playing field.
Complaints about unfairly priced Chinese and Vietnamese-made products have been a long simmering issue in the furniture business, so while Dodd says he had an inkling something was coming, he was expecting tariffs in the range of 10 to 20 per cent, similar to what the U.S. recently implemented.
